Mr Bachmann, On30 Forney with sound

[johnnyutah]

Hi Mr Bachmann,
I have just recieved a new Forney with sound, to my suprise the the cab and coal bunker are plastic! When I originaly did my research on this loco I could not find any info telling me its construction uner the sound loco description. However, the non sound version gave the discription of die cast boiler, cab, and bunkerWhy would my sound loco (costing a lot more) be so cheesy and delacate, have I missed somthing? Dont get me wrong I still like it but I was expecting somthing more robust, like my 2-8-0.
Regards Johnny.

[johnnyutah]

I standcorrected, the coal bunker was not die-cast, only frame, boiler and cab, but still the cab on the sound version is plastic (very delicate and disapointing), why cheapen it?

[ossygobbin]

i am guessing as i dont have a non sound forney but i think it will still have a plastic cab same as the sound version

[C.S.R.R. Manager]

I seem to recall an early test version of the Forney with a metal cab, but my guess is that the weight of a metal cab would throw the balance of the weight too much on the rear truck.  The entire back of the loco, from the cab back, is basically floating over the rear truck, except for a little spring action, and probably not enough to support a metal cab.  With the plastic cab and coal bunker, the weight is further to the front, over the drivers, which is better for operation.  So, if there was a change, the motivation was probably better operation, not cheaper construction.

[scottychaos]

Im glad the cab is plastic..makes kitbashing (cutting and gluing) it much easier.

The cab on the 2-8-0 is metal, which is a major pain..I wish it was plastic too.

I have never understood the "metal is better than plastic" thing..
IMO, plastic is better..
you can get just as good detail in plastic, and its SO much easier to work with.

I suppose some like metal components because its better for traction..because metal is heavier..but the difference between a metal or plastic cab is pretty negligble, compared to the overall total weight of the engine...a metal frame and some metal weights in the boiler is enough weight IMO...give me all-plastic for the cab/boiler/tender any day..

Scot

[the Bach-man]

Dear Johnny,
I believe it was a weight/ balance issue.
Have fun!
the Bach-man